As the number of electronic devices in the home has increased there has been a demand for a way to permit those devices to communicate between themselves and with external networks. Several standards are evolving protocols that will permit devices to communicate over twisted pair and other wiring modalities.
However, a large number of homes are presently equipped with coaxial cable to permit the viewing of cable television programming or to permit connection of computer devices to the interne. The evolving standards do not appear to take into account this installed base of coaxial cable. Instead, such standards require the rewiring of homes, in order to comply with the evolving protocol, or the use of other existing media, such as power lines, telephone lines, or wireless links. In comparison to coaxial cables, however, such existing media supports a significantly lower bit rate.
This invention meets this demand for interconnectivity without the necessity of changing the physical wiring present in the home.